The execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia represents another assault by Riyadh on the forces of reform and political empowerment in the Muslim world.

The U.S. city of Hamtramck has recently elected a Muslim-majority City Council for the first time in the country. The town of Hamtramck, in the state of Michigan, was a long-time Polish-Catholic enclave, but it has been demographically changing recently, and the election has shown how far the city had come. The three people who received the most votes were Muslim, two were incumbents - An

In occupied Kashmir, senior Shiite cleric and leader of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi, has strongly denounced the continued house arrest of the APHC Chairman, Syed Ali Gilani, and illegal detention of the APHC General Secretary, Shabbir Ahmed Shah.

For four years, the American Muslim youth community center has organized an annual halal food festival to draw Muslim families and also to enhance friendship ties with non-Muslims. This year’s festival, held Saturday at Rowland Park, drew vendors from Central Jersey, New York City and even as far away as Ohio. Thousands of people attended and they included many local and immigrant Muslims as well as non-Muslims.

The mosque, dating back to the year 500 Hijri in the Islamic calendar (1107 AD), was built at the order of a Shirazi ruler. The origins of the Shirazi people, inhabiting the Swahili coasts of Eastern Africa, are linked to Shiraz and the southwestern coastal region of Iran. Between the 13th century and 15th century, the Shirazis founded Persian city-states on t